What is USB 3.1 Type-C

November 12, 2015

USB 3.1 Type-C, is a new type of USB connector. It will replace the current USB standard cables. It will take an estimated 2 more years for USB 3.1 Type-C to become fully adopted (2017). USB-C will be used for power, video, and data. Computers, laptops, phones, will all use this one cable. The USB Type-C connector is reversible and both ends are identical, so you just plug it into the USB 3.1 Type-C port. No more flipping the connector around trying to plug it in.

USB Type-C can carry up to 100 watts of power compared to only 2.5 watts on USB 2 cables. This will increase the charging speed for devices using Type-C, making for shorter charge times. This cable has the ability of bi-directional power delivery. Allowing you to use a fully charged device to charge a device with a low battery. For instance, you will be able to use your laptop to recharge your phone. USB 3.1 Type-C will of course increase the data transfer speeds from the 3.0 spec of 5Gbps to 10Gbps! Transferring the same amount of data will take about half the time it used to.

The intent of Intel’s Thunderbolt (used on Apple Products) and USB 3.1 (developed by the USB-Implementers Forum) is to stop the cable madness. Within the past few years peripheral cable form factors have gone through a myriad of changes due to the radical evolution of mobile computing, storage devices (SSD), video resolution (4K), and the increased ability of our infrastructure to handle large amounts of data transferred over common networks, Ethernet, Wi-Fi & LTE.

Type-C was conceived with the future in mind and has extra pins built into the design. The plan is to support speeds greater than 10Gbps. It will also have the ability to utilize the VESA Display Port standard to support 4K Ultra HD video. It will be here as a de facto standard for a long while, at least 10 years.

Universal Serial Bus 3.1 Type-C will be backward compatible with older devices. Naturally the transfer speed will only be that of the older device. The connector shapes will be different so for legacy devices, you will need to buy a specific cable for that purpose. For example a Type-A to Type-C.

Devices that will use USB Type-C will be anything you currently use with a Type-A (or B) connector, external hard drives, laptops, phones, monitors as well as motherboards, (which are being adapted right now).

Quick facts:

USB 3.1 Type-C currently has a 10Gbps data transfer rate. This will increase in the future.

USB 3.1 Type-C is faster than the SATA III standard of 6.0Gbps.

USB 3.1 Type-C 10Gbps speed is the same as that of Thunderbolt, (Thunderbolt 2 delivers at 20Gbps but at 4x the dollar cost.).